The Drama of a Child’s Developing Constitution
And the Crucial Role of Adults
In its first twenty one years a child grows from near invisible embryo to adult height and weight. Corresponding internal changes, structural and functional are still more profound, as the first tiny organs are refashioned constantly on their way to adult form
Organ systems in the developing child evolve in a certain sequence. The brain and nervous system develop most rapidly in the first seven years of life, up to the change of teeth. The heart and lungs with their important rhythmical functions make similar strides in the next seven years. The metabolic organs, muscles and limbs mature strongly in the years after puberty
Delicate time relationships also exist between individual organs. The thymus for instance, the master-gland of the immune system, is at highest capacity in early childhood, but diminishes in both size and function in puberty under the influence of the maturing sexual and adrenal glands
A further aspect of development, not often recognized, is that a child receives its physical body as an inheritance from its parents, but in a certain sense this is just a starting point. As a being with an individual spirit, the child must also make this body its own, an instrument for its individual talents and destiny. This process is of course an unconscious one way, but it can be quite strenuous. The febrile illnesses of childhood are a key tool in this work - “demolition” phases in a longer term remodeling process
Development, both of body and soul, unfolds in orderly stages, each requiring its certain time and conditions. Inappropriate diet or environmental influences, developmental steps neglected, made out of sequence or under pressure - each has its consequences, even if not immediately noticed
Generally, our world tends to force children to develop too rapidly. The body’s organs are often forced to take up their tasks before they're fully formed. This begins with an overloading of the senses in early childhood, the hurried pace of life into which children are thrown, and too early an entry into reading and academic work
To adults, children may appear to keep pace, to be durable and adaptable to what we ask of them. But childhood disorders both of the body (asthma, allergies, ear infections) and of the soul (hyperactivity, attention problems, explosive and other behavioral disorders) have increased enormously. Less noticed but equally significant, is the occurrence of the change of teeth and puberty at ever earlier ages. In part due to environmental and dietary toxins, these things can also be seen as signs of stress, and a pressured developmental process. Their longer-term effects may not fully manifest until children reach their 40’s and 50’s, when they emerge as chronic illness
To be able to think, take initiative and relate to the world, a child needs a sound bodily vehicle. Whether it achieves a body adequate for the spirit it has brought to earth is a true drama of destiny - and for adults a responsibility of the first order.
Our work of course includes care for the child’s earthly nutritional and dietary needs - but we're also guardians of the “cosmic” nutritional stream of sense impressions, and of social and physical influences amidst which it lives. This asks of us knowledge, attention, and will
In ancient times human culture stood under the guidance of priest-kings, universally revered leaders of the world’s many peoples. These leading spirits taught human beings their agricultural and dietary practices, the forms of their religions, guidelines for their most important relationships and passages of life. From these high persons also came cultural and technical innovations, so that through long ages of time, human life evolved with a high degree of order and harmony
History has seen the waning of this guidance, and more recently even of our social traditions and instincts, such that life rests ever more in our own none too certain or skillful hands
Children are blessed with great resilience and vitality ; and people born to the most difficult situations sometimes manage not just to survive, but to accomplish great things. But the onslaught of daily life has intensified. More urgently as time passes, our task as adults becomes to seek clear, conscious knowledge of child development, of the nature of a human being, of rhythmical and healthy living. What hopes we have for a sustainable culture and future depend on our commitment to self education of this kind - and for the sake of our children, that we put our knowledge into practice
Article by : Jeff Smith RN
Readings on age appropriateness and the
developmental needs of children :
A Guide to Child Health - Dr Michaela Gloeckler and Dr Wolfgang Goebel
Phases in Childhood - Dr Bernard Lievegoed
You Are Your Child’s First Teacher - Rahima Baldwin Dancy
Beyond the Rainbow’s Bridge : Nurturing Our Children from Birth to Seven - Barbara J. Patterson
Natural Childhood : The First Practical and Holistic Guide for Parents of the Developing Child - John Thompson
Parenting a Path through Childhood - Dotty Turner Coplen
Teaching Academics in Preschool and Kindergarten - Dr. Susan R.Johnson
Cosmic Nutrition and Children - Jeff Smith RN